May 12, 2016

European leaders say Turkey still has adjust policies to gain visa-free travel

Reuters reports it is up to Turkey to fulfill the 72 criteria that the European Union has set out if it wants the bloc to grant it visa-free travel, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday. Earlier, Ankara's minister for EU affairs said Turkey believed it had fulfilled all the criteria, adding that it was unacceptable if the deal was postponed unfairly. But Steinmeier, speaking at a conference on Europe in the German foreign ministry, said Turkey must change anti-terror statutes which could give rise to the pursuit of journalists.